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A Sound Server For X
An anonymous reader writes "X.org, the organization that governs the evolution of the X11R6 specifications, has released a sound server for X, called MAS. According to their site: 'MAS integrates with a compatible X11 server on your desktop. It processes graphic information locally, alleviating the need for network transmission of uncompressed graphical content. Graphic events are easily synchronized with audio events for professional-quality multimedia and accessibility-enabled applications.'" The X.org site describes MAS as an "affiliated technology" rather than "official," but it is released under the same license. "MAS" stands for "Media Application Server," and it's developed by Shiman Associates.
ESound? Asd? ARTs? It seems a little different in concept, but I just can't get it. If it is, so cheers to the guys that made it... Linux at least (as I understand this is for X, so *BSDs and other *nix should benefit too) need a more standardized sound architecture (Yeah, I know about ALSA, but I mean something more higher level - like DirectSound)
It processes graphic information locally, alleviating the need for network transmission of uncompressed graphical content.
Since it relies on X11 I suspect the bandwidth requirements are going to be really high. X11 over the network is a bandwidth hog, that's all there is to it. Now they're adding sound?
X11 needs a new protocol. Graphical applications run across the network consume ridiculous amounts of bandwidth. If you want to do a test try running the XMMS gui across the network via X11. The last time I did it, XMMS was using 11 megabits per second. It would really suck to try that over a modem or a 64K frame-relay link.
What does the National Institutes of Health have to do with this? :_|
NIH = Not Invented Here. (Implication: So let's ignore it and reinvent this wheel our own way. Like maybe without that obnoxious radial symmetry. Besides, a round wheel might violate some patent. So let's have lots of engineer fun and waste lots of money, instead of pulling an existing design off the shelf, filing off a few rough spots so it will fit, and installing it.)
NIH goes along with management that thinks you need young developers who are constantly creating (and will reinvent the bubble sort), rather than experienced developers who already have the answers in the can (and will pull down their copy of Knuth Vol III and pick the right sort for the job.)
Which is not to say that I agree with the poster's conclusion that they may be ignoring fine solutions in order to construct one of their own. Integrating the video and audio server and protocols - rather than grafting audio onto an existing video server (which is in turn grafted onto something originally designed for more static displays) - is the right solution for synchronized video/audio. And the integration may have different problems than gluing the bag onto the side of the kludge.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
And for those who are asking what's wrong with existing sound servers: there's no standard mechanism to query whether one of them is running, especially on a remote machine. (No, relying on magic port numbers is wrong.) And not all of these servers run under all Unix variants. I personally have had very hard time trying to make aRTs work under comercial unices. With this stuff you just talk to X server. There's hope big players will support it because X is the industry standard. esd, to put it bluntly, isn't.
No. The X clipboard takes some used to (text copied with left button is different from text that is copied from ctrl+c), but it's been standard for over a decade.
"I keep looking in the want-ads under 'revolutionary' but there don't seem to be any listings.. "
XFree86 is the "Official" X.Org references implementation, if that answers your question.
And XPrint is pretty successful, if you count non-Linux platforms (where XFree86's Xprt XPrint server is horribly broken)
Let's hope that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space 'Cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth.
You're talking about Peep, right?
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
> XFree86 is the "Official" X.Org references implementation, if that answers your question.
For a long time, x.org snubbed XFree86. It was finally accepted into the fold because the popularity of XFree86 had gone way above and beyond any other, and X.org had thus become quite irrelevent compared to Xfree86.
Sorry that is off-topic, but after working in a large NOC for several years I think I can speak from experience by saying that the last thing I want to hear when my network starts going haywire is a bunch of loud ass crows or some elephant blathering about who knows what.
Anyone who has ever dealt with a network down emergency will probably agree that in reality you would want your example sound samples reversed. You need the annoying stuff while everything is operating properly to help you stay awake, and the mellow "creek sounds" when your in all out panic mode ready to explode.
Hmmm... people seem to have liked the other post, so I'll offer some other (potential) practical applications for the sound server. Just my 2 cents...
1. CAVE environments. Anybody who's worked in an X11 CAVE environment knows that X can handle video cube arangements. Maybe not the most elegent way to run a cave, but it's do-able. X-sound-server can then provide 3D sound support to cave applications.
2. PACS environments (terminal services). Do you have a *nix based picture archiving and communication system (PACS)? For example: a hospital or library kiosk system. Now, your PACS is an audio environment as well.
3. Video Jockeying (VJ). If you're running a linux based VJ operation at a nightclub or dance hall, audio support is now available via X. You can now synchronize your video panels and speakers with the same daemon... Check out JMAX for more information...
4. Voice-over-IP kludge. As microphones are basically just speakers operating in reverse, theoretically, the X-sound-server should support microphones at some level... Hack your X11 system to support XVOIP!
Likewise, we don't need another network audio codebase, we need a good network audio protocol. It looks like MAS provides that. As a bonus, you also get a reference implementation.
You only need the Windows Sound System for "gee neato" sound effects from Windows. I'm not aware of any game or program personally that specifically requires Windows Sound System to be active. CDPLAY.EXE for example can output directly to a SoundBlaster using a TSR.